Visa Move Disappoints Undocumented
September 25, 2008

By April Drew



SOME members of the Irish community have expressed their disappointment at the news that the Irish government has secured the allotment of 20,000 U.S. visas for Irish citizens on an annual basis.

Several undocumented who have been campaigning with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) for more than two years in an effort to get legalized, expressed their upset at the Irish government for agreeing to provide 20,000 visas to new Irish citizens and not doing anything to sort out the issue of the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented currently residing in the U.S., some for nearly 20 years.

Mary Brennan, who has been a member of the ILIR since its inception in 2006, told the Irish Voice on Tuesday she was extremely disappointed in the Irish government.

“Taoiseach Brian Cowen said when he was here in July, he said he would make the issue of the Irish undocumented here in America a priority and nothing has been done,â€